Pakistan's exports declined by 11.38 percent in October 2015 over the same month last fiscal year, according to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). Provisional trade figures released by the PBS Wednesday show that the country's total exports have been recorded at $1.729 billion in October 2015 as compared to $1.951 billion for the same month a year ago.
Economists say the decline in exports would put pressure on the country's balance of payment position (BoP) and the country's foreign exchange reserves. They said remittances sent by Pakistanis from abroad were a blessing in disguise because these have been helping bridge the country's growing trade gap. According to PBS, imports declined by 7.41 percent in October 2015 as compared to October 2014 after imports decreased from $4.240 billion to $3.926 billion. As a result, the trade deficit has narrowed by 4.02 in October 2015.
However, trade deficit in October 2015 over September 2015 swelled by 25.33 percent with trade gap increasing from $1.753 billion in September 2015 to $2.197 billion in October 2015. The import bill registered a growth of 12.65 percent in October 2015 over previous month as it registered an increase from $3.485 billion in September 2015 to $3.926 billion in October 2015.
The trade data uploaded by PBS further shows that trade deficit has narrowed by 12.65 percent during July-October 2015 as compared to July-October 2014. Trade deficit was recorded at $8.763 billion in July-October 2014 and decreased to $7.698 billion in July-October 2015. Exports declined by 13.42 percent and reduced to $6.884 billion during the first four months of the current fiscal year from $7.951 billion for the same period of last fiscal year. Imports also fell by 12.76 percent during the first four months of the current fiscal year as compared to same period of last fiscal year and declined from $16.714 billion during July-October 2014 to $14.582 billion during July-October 2015.
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